Summer reigns

Summer Bratland’s first name may bring up images of warm sunny days, but the Watertown High School 9th grader now rules the winter.

Bratland was named 2013 South Dakota Junior Snow Queen at the Jan. 5 statewide festival in Aberdeen, one of 28 girls vying for the title.

She said during a Wednesday phone interview that the win was an exciting surprise to be named to the statewide title, and it still hasn’t sunk in yet.

“It just went over my head,” she said.

Over the year, the daughter of Scott and Peggy Bratland will represent South Dakota along with the soon-to-be-named South Dakota 2013 Senior Snow Queen.

“We go to a lot of events and parades,” Bratland said, adding they do a variety of other activities such as walks to end cancer and reading to children in schools.

Her official duties have begun already, as she is slated to be royalty for this weekend’s Senior Snow Queen festival.

Bratland said the other 27 competitors from all over South Dakota were very nice, and she enjoyed the event -- something she had always wanted to do.

“I love performing and doing everything on stage,” she said.

Bratland is familiar with entertaining audiences and being in the spotlight, as she was involved in middle school plays including the lead role of “Alice in Wonderland.” She is also involved in Watertown Town Players, and participated in volleyball and figure skating before sustaining a concussion earlier in the school year.

Bratland qualified for the state festival when she won the local Watertown Junior Snow Queen title at the D.D. Miller Auditorium on Nov. 17.

The last time a Watertown girl was named South Dakota Junior Snow Queen was ten years ago when Summer was little -- and that Snow Queen was Summer’s babysitter.

Megan (Schumacher) Proulx, currently of Moorhead, Minn., won the statewide 2003 Jr. Snow Queen title -- which opened the door to representing South Dakota during various festivals. Her travels included Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Proulx said as she got to participate in events as a dignitary, she got to meet and get to know other queens from other festivals and formed a lasting friendship with that year’s Senior Snow Queen.

Bratland described her own Snow Queen experience as being fun, but also with more opportunities than she ever imagined.

“I’m just excited to be a role model,” Bratland said, adding the 2013 Snow Queen title means she needs to show good character and inspire people -- but also to have fun and not take things too seriously.

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